Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Chicago Venture Capital Firms & Angel Investor Networks

Posted By: George Deeb - 5/28/2013

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Below is a list of selected venture capital firms that are actively investing in Chicago.  All of them will look at technology related startups, although many invest in additional industries, as well.  Please research these venture capital investors at their linked websites, to see who may be the best fit for you.  I organized this venture capital list in terms of stage of investment focus, from early to late stage investors.  So, please don't reach out to these Chicago VC's if you do not fit their target criteria.  And, be sure to research their specific technology focus on their websites (e.g., healthcare, education, digital media, SaaS), to make sure your business is a fit for them.  I have added notes below, if they were available from their websites.  Also, as a reminder, don't blindly cold call these Chicago venture capital firms.  It is always best to have a warm intro into one of their partners, where Red Rocket or others may be able to help here.

ANGEL INVESTOR NETWORKS IN CHICAGO

Chicago ArchAngels  medical, green tech, clean energy, fin svs., education, CPG, others

Cornerstone Angels  clean tech, software, internet, mobile, mfg., industrial, consumer, food/bev., biz svs., health, medical

Harvard Angels  generalist

Heartland Angels  science, retail, mfg., distribution, telecom, info tech

Hyde Park Angels  digital media/tech, biz/fin. svs., consumer, health

Irish Angels

MD Angels

Pipeline Angels  women founders

Purple Arch Ventures  co-invest along other VC's; generalists

West Suburban Angels  info tech, biz svs., industrial, finance, CPG, health


SEED STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL (Up to $250K checks from $0 revenues)

Birdsong Ventures consumer, media, healthcare, SaaS, OTT

Cardigan Ventures  tech

Chicago Early Growth Ventures  generalist for Chicago based companies

Chingona  fin tech, food tech, education tech, health tech, generalist, female founders

Dundee Venture Capital  tech in central U.S., the "Mighty Middle"

Founder Equity

Fulcrum Investing  all industries, 25% pre-revenue, $25-$100K checks

G2T3V insurance, auto, media, marketing, data, customer satisfaction, tech, education

Harbor Street Ventures

Illinois Ventures  university based research

Impact Engine  education, health, better economy, lower resources

Jumpstart Ventures

KB Partners  tech, medical, industrial, real estate, consumer

KGC Capital

Kilmahew Group  food, food service, healthcare tech, SaaS, virtual reality

Koh Founders  B2B, marketplace, health, AI, messaging, IoT, inefficiencies, software, svs., mobile

Laveer Capital  consumer, business, real estate

Listen Ventures  brands

LongJump  by founders, for founders

M25 Group  Midwest, generalist

Motivate Venture Capital  generalist

Network Ventures  Midwest, marketplace, networks, platforms

New Stack Ventures    Midwest, IoT, smart hardware, space tech, deep tech, frontier tech

OS Fund  "see beyond our lifetimes"

Outside VC  invest in fintech startups run by diverse "outsider" entrepreneurs

Propellant Ventures  Midwest and Southeast, leading edge companies

Rebellion Partners  financial, B2B marketplaces, cloud, data

Ringleader Ventures  health, insurance, consumer

Subconscious Ventures  SaaS, marketplace, consumer tech

Tech Rise for black and Latinx tech founders

Tribal Ventures

Vue Ventures  Midwest

Washing Pond Ventures  software, consumer, B2B, social enterprise, events

West Loop Ventures  financial tech

Also, be sure to research this list of Chicago startup accelerators as some invest capital.

EARLY STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL  (Up to $500K checks in under $500K revenues)

ARCH Venture Partners  life sciences, physical sciences, info tech

Abundant Venture Partners  human wellness, performance & engagement

Batterson Venture Partners  high tech, bio tech, energy, medical, media

Bluestein & Associates  tech-enabled services, food related (retail/cpg/supply), ecommerce/retail

Breakpoint Ventures  real estate, law, tech, financial

Ceres Venture Fund  Midwest, health, info tech, biz svs.

Corazon Capital

DRW Venture Partners  financial, technology

81 Collection stealth fund by super-angels in Chicago, led by Vijen Patel

Energy Foundry  energy

FireStarter Fund  digital tech

Garland Capital

Graphene Ventures  B2B SaaS, collaboration economy, mobile svs.

Guild Capital  contrarian, non-VC friendly, underserved geographies

Hyde Park Venture Partners  Midwest, B2B SaaS, consumer marketplace

Independence Equity  natural resource utilization

Lakewest Venture Partners  Chicago, generalist

Lead Lap  biz svs., consumer

Math Venture Partners

Next Gen Venture Partners  "network driven", like an angel network

Nin Ventures  crowd-based, finance, education, internet, digital media, mobile comms, cloud

Nine Four Ventures  real estate related technology

Sandalphon Capital  SaaS, marketplaces, consumer tech, consumer brands, IoT /hardware

Sandbox Industries  health, food/agriculture

S2G Ventures  food supply chain

Serra Ventures  Midwest, SaaS across all industries

Starting Line  consumer products and services

Synetro Group  B2B software, biz svs., niche CPG

Wicklow Capital

SERIES A STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL ($500K-$1MM checks in $500K-$1MM revenues)

Breakout Capital  consumer that can leverage their inhouse creative agency (fundless sponsor)

Bridge Investments  biz svs., SaaS, consumer, ecommerce, niche mfg., health, real estate

Chicago Ventures  ecommerce, data, education, health, marketplace, media, payments, SaaS

Cultivian Sandbox  food/agriculture

LEO Capital  entertainment, youth, internet, mobile, health

Lightbank  generalist

Jump Capital  enterprise SaaS, fin tech, health, marketplace

Moderne Ventures  real estate, mortgages, fin. svs., home svs.

OCA Ventures  tech, financial, education, health

Origin Ventures  ecommerce, digital media, ad tech, SaaS

Promus Ventures  analytics, data, mobile, digital media, connected web

Purple Arch Ventures  generalist co-investors of Northwestern alumni

Red Barn Investments

Second Century Ventures  SaaS, data, digital media, fin tech, biz. svs.

7 Wire Ventures  health

2x Partners  consumer products, food

Wintrust Ventures

SERIES A/B STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL ($1-$5MM checks in $1-$5MM revenues)

Apex Venture Partners  tech svs., (B2B and B2C), info tech, clean tech

Baird Venture Partners  health, industrial, technology, services

Duchossois Capital  health, education

Evolve Ventures technology in the food industry (backed by Kraft Heinz)

First Analysis  technology, health

Kenex Holdings (can do seed stage too)  mfg., food/bev, agric., transport, logistics, infrastructure

MK Capital  digital media, data, sotware, education

Matthew Pritzker Company

Method Capital  B2B tech in Midwest

Pritzker Group Venture Capital  consumer, enterprise, health, emerging

R7 Partners  "big things"

Range Light  active life, natural foods, tech svs.

Romar Partners  B2B tech

SERIES B/C STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL ($5-$20MM checks in over $5MM revenues)

Adams Street Partners  software, mobile, health, security, finance

Chicago Growth Partners  education, tech svs., health, industrial

JK&B Capital  comms., info tech, health

Merrick Ventures  marketplace

MVC Capital  CPG, food, distribution, industrial, mfg., finance, insurance, chemicals

Sterling Partners  biz svs., education, health

CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS

Abbott Ventures

Abbvie Biotech Ventures

Allstate Investments

Baxter Ventures

Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners

CME Ventures

DV X Labs (DeVry EdTech Accelerator)

Mondelez Shopper Futures

Motorola Solutions Venture Capital

Walgreens Well Ventures

FAMILY INVESTMENT OFFICES

See this list of Chicago family offices

REGIONAL VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS THAT LOOK AT CHICAGO DEALS

Beringea (Detroit)--Series A/B stage, helath, life svs., info tech, clean tech, CPG, mfg., media, biz svs., retail, leisure

Blossom Street Ventures (Dallas)--Series A stage, generalist.

Castlestone Capital (Dallas)--Seed stage, SaaS, finance, health, enterprise apps

Calumet Ventures (Madison)--Early stage, Midwest

Chrysalis Ventures (Louisville)--Series A/B stage, health, technology

CID Capital (Indianapolis)--Series B/C stage, CPG, industrial products

Connectic Ventures (Cincinnati Area)--Seed stage, tech

Detroit Venture Partners (Detroit)--Early stage

Drive Capital (Columbus)--Series A stage

Dundee Venture Capital (Omaha)--Early stage, ecommerce, SaaS, consumer networks

Firebrand Ventures (Kansas City) --Early stage, Midwest, generalist

4490 Ventures  (Madison)--Series A, Midwest, software, or enabled IoT hardware in health, mktg, business services, industrial, agriculture, logistics, transportation.

Frontier Capital (Charlotte)--Series B/C sates, software, services

Grand Ventures (Grand Rapids)--Seed/Series A stage, Midwest, mfg., agric., energy, food, transp. and mobility

Huron River Ventures (Ann Arbor)--Early stage, Midwest, agric., energy, transport

Matchstick Ventures (Minneapolis)--Early stage

Mercury Fund (Houston)--Early stage, Mid-Continent, enterprise B2B, SaaS, cloud computing, data

NorthCoast Technology Investors (Ann Arbor)  Midwest, software, comms., mat. sciences, medical

Omphalos Ventures (Minneapolis)--Early stage, consumer, health, info tech

Open Prairie (Illinois/Michigan/Kansas)--Early stage, agric., life sciences, medical, software, info tech, energy, mfg., real estate

Pallasite Ventures (Vancouver)--Seed/Series A, technology, CPG

Plymouth Ventures (Ann Arbor)--Series A stage, Midwest, B2B

Resonant Venture Partners (Ann Arbor)-Seed/Series A, super compute, security, industrial IoT, cloud

RPM Ventures (Ann Arbor)--Early stage, B2B SaaS, cloud, social infrastructure, marketplace, auto

River Cities Capital (Cincinnati)--Series A/B stage, health, info tech

T Gap Ventures (Kalamazoo)--Series A/B stage, software, life sciences, medical, internet infrastructure, specialty mfg., plastics, data/comm tech

Venture Investors (Madison/Ann Arbor)--Seed/Series A, health, health tech

Vine Street Ventures (Cincinnati)--Early stage, internet, mobile

In addition, don't forget, many startup accelerator or incubator programs in Chicago will also provide cash for their startups.  And, there are many other anonymous angel investors who invest in startups, that you need a solid introduction into those high net worth individuals.  So, be sure to tap into your networks for these other sources of capital.

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